As 2024 comes to a close, it’s time to take a look back at the biggest federal policy developments that impact CRM.
- Republicans Win Big on Election Day
Not surprisingly, the 2024 election was the year’s biggest news. Former President Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in November after President Biden withdrew from the race in July. Republicans also took control of the Senate, 53-47, and maintained their narrow majority in the House. What does unified GOP control of Washington mean for the CRM industry in 2025 and beyond? It’s too soon to tell for sure, but watch ACRA’s December 5 post-election webinar to get a sense of how things may play out.
- The Supreme Court Upends the Rulemaking Process
One of the biggest policy developments in 2024 came not from the White House or Congress, but from the Supreme Court. In June, a 6-3 majority threw out the 40-year-old Chevron deference, which required courts to defer to federal agencies’ expertise and judgement in rulemakings when the law was ambiguous. The ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo gives the court system more leeway to overrule federal agency regulations if they feel agencies go beyond Congress’ intent. This opens the door to lawsuits challenging specific regulations, potentially including those that relate to CRM. ACRA continues to work with its allies to gauge the impact of the ruling and find ways to make sure that important regulations, like the ACHP 800 rules, remain in place. (For more on Chevron and what it means, check out ACRASPhere’s analysis after the ruling.)
- ACHP Stirs Program Comment Controversy
Perhaps no issue so galvanized the preservation and cultural resources sectors this year than the ACHP’s proposed Program Comment on green buildings, housing and transportation. First released last summer, the Program Comment would provide all federal agencies with an alternative to Section 106 for a wide range of undertakings. The Council received nearly 150 comments about their plan, including from ACRA. Expressing its concern to that the Program Comment would “undermine significant work conducted over decades by Council members, state and Tribal preservation officers, cultural resource management firms and professionals, and many others to strike an appropriate balance between those goals,” ACRA urged the Council to withdraw it. In November the Council issued a revised proposal which addresses some – but not all – of the concerns raised by ACRA and others in the preservation community. Whether the Council will adopt it before Chair Sara Bronin’s expected departure in January is still to be determined.
- ACRA Members Take to Capitol Hill
In May, CRM professionals came to Washington for ACRA’s 2024 Capitol Hill fly-in with a clear message: investing in preservation is a win-win for everyone. ACRA members met with nearly 30 Senate and House offices, urging lawmakers to protect and strengthen the Section 106 process and support the Historic Preservation Fund. Those meetings led to a number of lawmakers cosponsoring ACRA-backed legislation. As it becomes even more important that the cultural resources community speaks with one voice, ACRA will join with Preservation Action and other allies next spring for 2025 National Historic Preservation Advocacy Week. (Registration is open!)
- ACRA and Allies Fight for the Historic Preservation Fund
With infrastructure projects straining SHPO and THPO capacity, ACRA and its preservation partners ratcheted up advocacy for the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) in 2024. Early in the year, ACRA helped secure $188 million for the Fund in Fiscal Year 2024 and continued the fight all year to see the Fund reauthorized and enlarged. With the HPF’s authority to draw funds from Outer Continental Shelf royalties expiring in September, ACRA and its allies are pushing Congress to pass legislation in Congress’ lame duck session that renews the Fund for 10 years and increases its annual allocation of royalties from $150 million to $250 million.
- Permitting Reform Lurches Forward
Like a horror movie baddie who never seems to die, permitting reform was left for dead but came back to life multiple times in 2024. Over the summer, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced permitting overhaul legislation that would lead to some additional categorical exclusions from NEPA, including for some renewable energy projects. Meanwhile, House Natural Resources Republicans unveiled a bill that would limit NEPA’s scope and curb legal challenges to energy projects. All year, permitting reform backers have kept struggling to find consensus – and in fact aren’t quite done yet: a permitting bill could still emerge in the final hours of Congress’ 2024 session. ACRA and its preservation partners continue to press the case to lawmakers that investing in an efficient, effective Section 106 process is the best way to move projects forward.
- Army Corps Withdraws Appendix C
Following years of advocacy by ACRA and others, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed in 2024 to revoke Appendix C for its regulatory program and replace it with the Section 106 implementing regulations at 36 CFR 800. ACRA has long called on the Corps to rescind Appendix C, arguing that such a move “will result in stronger and more meaningful consultation with Tribal governments and descendant communities, better enabling the Corps to fulfill its trust responsibility to Tribal Nations.” It is not clear when the Corps will finalize its proposed rule, but observers believe it will be soon.
- New NAGPRA Rules Spur Debate
The Interior Department’s new Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) regulations may have arrived in late 2023, but questions about their interpretation persisted through 2024. Members of the CRM industry have asked whether the new regulations place additional requirements on CRM firms. To help answer those questions, ACRA has engaged with Interior’s NAGPRA office throughout the year, providing guidance in ACRASphere, hosting a Q-and-A session with National NAGPRA Program Manager Melanie O’Brien in August, and holding discussions on NAGPRA at ACRA’s Annual Conference and an online Hot Topic discussion. ACRA will continue providing guidance to CRM firms on how they ensure compliance with NAGPRA.
- The White House Reforms NEPA (For the Moment)
The Biden administration issued new National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rules last May that undo changes made by the first Trump administration. The White House Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) rules added provisions to ensure that the impacts of proposed projects on historic and cultural resources are considered, and they reversed Trump-era provisions that could have limited agencies from gathering updated information to analyze the effects of proposed actions. Of course, what goes around comes around, and there’s a good chance that Trump will undo Biden’s undoing of his earlier reforms in 2025. Stay tuned.
- ACHP Approves Indigenous Knowledge Policies
The ACHP voted unanimously to adopt a Policy Statement on Indigenous Knowledge and Historic Preservation in March. The statement establishes a set of principles and guidelines regarding the role of Indigenous Knowledge in historic preservation. In its comments to the ACHP, ACRA said that it “and its members are committed to genuine and holistic engagement with Indigenous Peoples that values not only the Indigenous Knowledge they possess but demonstrates proper respect for how that Knowledge is obtained, shared and disseminated.” ACRA also urged the Council to “take as assertive a role as possible in ensuring that Indigenous Knowledge is considered in all Section 106 proceedings.”